24 Hours With Wren

A few days ago I asked on Instagram whether anyone would be interested in reading a ‘Day in the life of Wren’ post and so many of you responded saying you would love it.

So what does life at home with a newborn look like?Although Wren is now 6 weeks old and we’re in a semi routine, I still wake up every morning thinking ‘what will today bring?’The following 24 hours are a normal day of me at home solo whilst Brett’s at work. Get ready for a lot of feeding, crying & nappy changes…..

01.35 – Wren wakes for his first feed after going down at 21.45. I pop him on my boob and luckily don’t feel too tired since he’s given us a nice 4 hour stretch of sleep.

02:26 – He finishes his feed, Brett quickly settles him and we all get back to sleep.

05:12 – Wren wakes for his second feed of the night and by 05:48 he’s finished and napping on me, I let him sleep on me for a bit until Brett’s work alarm goes off at 6 and he pops him back into his Snüz Pod.

06:00 – I attempt to get back to sleep but I can hear Brett getting ready so struggle to drift off, I think I eventually nod off once Brett leaves for work but 5 mins later Wren is starting to stir.

06:45 – I attempt to settle him with his dummy and some gentle rocking. He spits the dummy straight out but rocking seems to do the trick!

06:53 – Nope, 5 mins later he’s awake and screaming. I check his nappy, it’s wet & dirty so I get him cleaned up and into a fresh one. He normally screams through nappy changes but I actually got a little smile from him this time!! I’m hoping this is a good omen for the day ahead.

07:00 – I get back into bed for a cuddle but Wren’s not having any of it and he soon starts crying. Time for another feed!

07:29 – He’s finished his feed and is sleeping on me. I’m now debating when to move him back into his Snüz Pod so I can grab some breakfast.

07:30 – He’s awake. No breakfast for me yet. However he’s in the mood for some playtime so I pop him up on my legs and he chats away to me in his baby gargle and gives me some big ol’ smiles. It’s my favourite part of the day.

07:45 – I can see he’s getting tired so decide to put him back down. I check his nappy first as I heard some tummy rumbles when he was sat on me. Yep, he needs changing again. I also notice his feet feel a little clammy so decide to check his temperature. He hates this so screams bloody murder and continues to scream throughout his nappy change (his temp is fine). He won’t sleep when he’s this worked up so I walk around the bedroom with him over my shoulder to settle him.

08:05 – He’s back in his bed starting to nod off. I sit rocking him waiting for him to go to sleep so I can grab some breakfast.

09:11 – Wren has just woken from his nap and is ready for another feed. In the last hour I’ve managed to have a shower, eat some breakfast, drink a cuppa tea and put a load of laundry on. Not a bad morning so far!

09:46 – He fed for about 20 mins then fell asleep on me, I pop some music on my phone and lap up these sleepy newborn cuddles. He soon wakes and seems a little grizzly…time for another nappy change! Once he’s cleaned up and in a fresh nappy I get him dressed for the day which he hates and screams through it. Once he’s dressed I scoop him up for a cuddle and a little walk around the room to soothe him.

10:05 – Once he’s calmed down I pop him back into his Snüz Pod so I can finish off getting ready. He grizzles a bit when I first put him down but luckily he absolutely loves the sound of my hairdryer. As soon as I start it up he quickly settles and is quite content. He soon falls asleep due to the white noise and I leave it on to drown out the noise of me pottering about.

10:57 – The second I turn the hairdryer off his little eyes pop open and he’s ready for another feed. We make our way downstairs and by 11:10 I’m sat watching This Morning (lol) whilst Wren feeds.

11:50 – After he’s finished his feed and another nappy change we get ready to head out. When we’re out he’s quite content having a little look around until….

12:07 – He starts a little cry which soon turns into a full blown scream. I attempt his dummy and some gentle rocking in his pram but he’s not a happy bunny. I of course can’t leave him crying so pop the break on the pram and pick him to sooth him. I get several sympathetic looks from passers by as I try to calm my screaming babe. Turns out he had a bit of an upset tummy as a little pool of baby sick lands on my shoulder. Once he’s got this up he seems fine, as soon as I pop him back in his pram he falls to sleep.

12:40 – We get home and Wren is still sound asleep so I leave him in his pram and take the opportunity to get some lunch.

12:48 – He’s awake so lunch is on hold. I check his nappy and he’s due a change. I clean him up and pop him in a clean nappy. It’s about 2 hours since he last fed so I settle down to feed him whilst and eat my lunch one handed over him!

13:00 – About 5 minutes into his feed I hear a big nappy explosion! Always the way, after he’s just been changed! I don’t want to interrupt his feed so I let him continue and change him when he’s finished.

13:30 – He’s finished feeding so I jump up to change him straight away, I don’t want to risk a leaky nappy.

13:37 – After his nappy change I pick him up for a cuddle and walk around the living with him.

14:00 – Arms suitably achy I put him into his rocking chair for a bit of playtime.

14:05 – MASSIVE nappy explosion. He’s testing me today with the nappy changes!! I pop him out and get him cleaned up again.

14:10 – He’s back in his chair and we have 15 minutes of delicious playtime. My absolute favourite. He’s ooing & aahing and giving me plenty of smiles as I rattle some toys around him. He tires of this quite quickly and starts sucking his fist like crazy. I attempt his dummy to sooth his urge to suckle but it’s clear he doesn’t want it so I let him feed again.

14:30 – Wren didn’t feed for very long before falling asleep on me, I think he just wanted a little comfort feed. I brave putting him down in his sleepyhead which I’ve got in the living room.

15:30 – He finally falls asleep on my shoulder and I risk putting him into his sleepyhead again!

15:31 – Its been a bit of a trying afternoon so I’m slumped on the couch. There are 3 dirty nappies on the floor but I just don’t have the energy to move them. I’m just going to sit here and enjoy the quiet for now.

15:41 – The quiet didn’t last for very long before Wren starts to cry. I sit down ont he floor next to him (and the dirty nappies) and stroke his little nose. This seems to do the trick and he falls back to sleep…for now.

17:05 – I wake up to the sound of Brett coming through the front door. Wren has been asleep since about 4 and I ended up nodding off on the sofa! We both clearly needed the nap! I’m SO happy Brett is home.

17:30 – Brett has a little cuddle with him and changes his nappy before he’s ready for another feed.

18:00 – Wren finishes his feed and we have a little bit of a cuddle whilst Brett has popped out to pick us up some dinner.

18:50 – We manage to more or less eat our tea uninterrupted! Brett picks him once or twice to sooth him but he’s quite content sat in his bouncy chair chatting away to us as we eat.

19:02 – Another nappy change! Now that Brett is home from work he’s taken them over. Phew! Once he’s clean they have some quality time with some cuddles.

20:07 – Its been a fairly calm night so far. Wren slept on Brett for about 45 minutes. We head upstairs and start our bedtime routine. Bath, change of clothes and a feed.

20:28 He normally loves a bath but he was a bit fussy tonight, I think it was because he’s hungry. We’re now settled in bed and he’s feeding away.

21:28 – After Wren has fed, Brett gets him settled quite quickly and we’re both in bed ourselves, we generally go to sleep as soon as Wren is down as we never know what time he’s going to wake in the night and want to get as much sleep as we can!

23:58 – A couple of hours after going down he’s awake again for his first night feed. Wren generally sleeps until at least 1/2am so it’s a little earlier than usual tonight.

01:45 – Wren has been very fussy these last few hours, we’ve had 2 feeds, nappy changes, burping, rocking, dummy attempts….he was very hard to settle but finally went down after a second feed. Brett and I are both back in bed and crossing our fingers we all get some sleep.

So there you have it. My days during the week generally follow this pattern when I’ve not got any plans or visitors. Although some days are tougher than others and I do clock watch a lot waiting for Brett to get home at 5, the days tend to fly by and I love spending all the time I can with Wren as I know this first year with my gorgeous boy will be over before I know it!

If you’re expecting I hope this post has given you a little insight into what you can expect when you’re babe arrives!
And if you’re a mama to a newborn too I’d love to know if your days are similar to this?

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4 thoughts on “24 Hours With Wren”

This post made me smile and brought me right back to the newborn days with my little girl. I had (mostly) forgotten the intensity of the routine and how everytime you go to eat/sit down baby stirs. We have a second baby due soon so I’ll be back at it. Your little boy is a cutie. Best of luck with everything.